The idea of advanced business education is to heighten and magnify understanding of facts and their relationships, develop and evaluate concepts and practices in order to achieve something new or more efficient.

The news from Duke University about a cheating scandal in the business school, brings to mind some very serious questions about MBA programs and continuing business education.

Who is going to business school to learn and who is going to get the title?

How important is it for companies to have employees that are/were first in their class, or in the top 20?

How should an MBA business school react to cheating?

MBA candidates and graduate business students are the “top of the line” future leaders and managers of business in the future. What messages are we sending about morals and ethics in our society when cheating is tolerated, lightly punished or severely punished?

Is this a sign of failure of the school, failure of the students, or the reality that shortcuts and cheating are required in order to get ahead in our current business environment?

There are a number of reasons why individuals and organizations refuse to perform in an ethical manner or raise their voice against unethical behaviour.

6 Reasons why we don’t object to unethical actions or behaviour.

1. Ignored and Ostracized. We will be eliminated from the “group”. Showing opposition to an idea that was created by someone with power or the power of persuasion can result in being ignored and left out of future decision-making.

2. Fear. Not on board with the company philosophy? You might get fired. Fear of unfavorable personal consequences.

3. Demoted. Will lose power, prestige, and income if you speak up or oppose the idea or practice.

4. Insecurity. Perhaps we are not sure if the means justify the ends. Inability to clearly see the situation as unethical or wrong.

5. Reward. We see a payoff (money, power, prestige) that overwhelms our sense of ethics. Justifying wrong in order to receive personal gain.

6. Lazy or uncommitted. Unwilling or unable to challenge the group or idea.

5 Reasons why we should speak up and question unethical actions or behaviour.

1. Be true to yourself. Stand up for your own beliefs.

2. Be a leader. Others in the group might believe the same thing, but are timid or afraid of voicing objections. Create a dialogue and open a discussion of the issues.

3. New point of view. The group might not have thought of the consequences, or not see the situation as an ethics related decision. Open their eyes.

In fact they seem to be words right out of a fairy tale. Words and concepts that have faded away with the modern world and it’s complexity.

Perhaps it’s not cool to be labeled as virtuous, moral or ethical.

Is it because we live in a complicated world that has us making more decisions about the “gray areas”?

We don’t read about organizations being ethical or noble. In fact we hear about unethical companies and employees much more often.

Business magazines doesn’t write front page articles about virtuous executives and CEO’s (I hope this is because it’s not popular and not because there aren’t any).

Are there any reasons to promote and reinforce these values in your organization?

Are there good reasons to avoid discussion of them?

Perhaps the fact that unethical behaviour is reported, and considered scandalous, is a clear signal that it is outside of “normal” business conditions and draws attention.

Let’s begin with definitions, that should clear up some of the confusion.

Moral – Conforming to a standard of what is right and wrong, correct, trustworthy. How could anyone want to work with others who don’t know right from wrong and behave?

Ethical – Principles of conduct governing an individual or group, a set of moral values, a guiding philosophy, decent, respectable. OK, this one sounds like it should be part of the package too.

Noble – Moral eminence and freedom from anything mean, petty or dubious in conduct and character. In simple terms doing the “right thing” all the time, excellence. If it looks bad, don’t do it…pretty good advice and words to live by.

Virtuous – Implies moral excellence in character. Not only knows good from bad, and adheres to it, but is exemplary in their behaviour and practice of their beliefs, honest, good, without reproach. I can’t find any customer, shareholder or employee who wouldn’t want their company to be virtuous.

Which of the terms can your company live without in their employees?

Are any of these characteristics that should be found and promoted in your management and leadership?

Which of these concepts and behaviours are important to you, your customers and your organization now and in the future?

Do you have a written policy in place to promote, identify, and create noble employees and a virtuous organization?

Do you point out and recognize when a person or organization has done something noble, virtuous or ethical?

There are perceptions and realities associated with bribery and corruption when doing business in Mexico.

Corruption, bribery, “mordidas” (translated as “bites”, but are actually bribes) and tips are part of Mexico and the foreigner’s perception of Mexico.

It’s a difficult subject to address because it involves ethical and moral decisions for the foreign visitor or business person. What is culturally OK in Mexico, may be seen as immoral and corrupt by an individual from another country.

Historically, corruption in Mexico is blamed upon the Spanish conquistadors. While corruption no doubt existed prior to the Spanish conquest, they certainly did institutionalize it in government and throughout the Mexican (and Latin American) culture.

Today corruption, bribery and tipping occur at all levels of Mexican society and at many different degrees. For one reason or another it has become part of daily life. Most of it involves small sums of money, and is thought of as tipping and not as a bribe.

In fact, to eliminate corruption in Mexico overnight is unrealistic and would probably result in chaos. As some Mexican observers have noted, “La mordida” is the grease that makes the system work.

All of the following might occur in Mexico. Which of the following are acts of corruption or bribery? Which are totally unethical, somewhat unethical, and no big deal? Which of these events occurs in your country ?

The garbage collectors come by every 2 weeks, rings the doorbell and ask for money for a soft drink, US $1 or $2.

While waiting in a long line, someone comes up to you and asks if you would like to avoid the line and be attended right away. It will cost US $ 5 to US $ 10, and save you 2 hours.

Your application for a permit/license has been in the government office for several weeks, and no one seems to be able to tell you what is wrong. The secretary asks if you would like to buy a raffle ticket for some organization. After buying the ticket the application suddenly appears.

You visit a local political leader and take him to dinner and a theater event to discuss your project.

At holiday time, you send gifts to politicians, suppliers and business associates.

Your daughter copies exam answers from another student at school.

The police stop you for a traffic violation (which may or may not have occurred). They suggest that for US $ 20 or $ 50 you can make it disappear, and you’ll be on your way in 5 minutes.

You need government agency approvals for your business project. In order to make sure everything is done correctly, you hire an official in the department as a consultant.

You require a zoning change on a piece of land, you invite a government official to participate as an investor in the project, or perhaps give him some shares.

Your son or daughter wants to get into a nightclub, the doorman says no. They give him US $ 5 and walk right in.

A city inspector finds code violations in your restaurant. A call to a family member, who knows someone, who knows someone, results in the violations being revoked.

A drug enforcement agent receives a phone call that tells him to choose between accepting USD $ 20,000 payment this year to let a drug shipment go by unharmed or to have his children shot.

Your immigration papers are not quite right. There is a document missing. You are able to convince the official (though words and tears) to “overlook” the situation, no money is exchanged.

Can you live and work in Mexico and not pay bribes? Yes. (I’m lived and worked in Mexico over the past 14 years and have never paid a “mordida” in my private or business life.)

Are bribes necessary for doing business in Mexico? I think it depends on the circumstances. Most business can be done without them. It depends on you, and your evaluation of the situation. There must be certain areas where influence peddling, and “mordidas” are an integral part of the business, and other areas where it’s not required in the least. This is not unique to Mexico.

All Mexican local, state and federal governments and government agencies are not corrupt. In fact, in the past 10 years there have been great advances in transparency in government, including guarantees for the time involved in processing applications and permissions.

Mexican federal public policy and local and state governments have been actively reducing and eliminating institutionalized corruption and penalizing government workers involved in illegal acts. There is still a long way to go before it’s completely eliminated, but there has been a noticeable change in many areas.

Mexico’s poverty, unequal distribution of wealth, history and culture make it difficult to eradicate corruption overnight. Mexico is a country with many laws, but they are not well enforced. It’s similar to the temptation one might feel on the lonely country road at 3:00 AM and confronting a red light…..do you stop…or run through it?

You should develop and hold firm to your own ethical and moral principals in order to live and do business in Mexico. If you don’t do it at home, why would you do it in Mexico?

Your company should have a clear policy about corruption and bribery, and hold to it when doing business in Mexico, or internationally.

If you have any personal experiences or observations about corruption, bribery, mordidas and doing business in Mexico, please write me or comment here.Related Links

Transparency International has released their 2006 index of corruption perception on November 6, 2006.

Mexico lands at number 70 on the list, which puts it close to the middle of the pack out of a total of 163 countries.

” Since 1995, Transparency International has published an annual Index of perception of corruption ordering the countries of the world according to “the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians“. The organization defines corruption as “the abuse of public office for private gain. ” – excerpt from Wikipedia Corruption Perception Index.

“As this index is based on polls, the results are subjective and are less reliable for countries with fewer sources. Also, what is legally defined, or perceived, to be corruption differs between jurisdictions: a political donation legal in some jurisdiction may be illegal in another; a matter viewed as acceptable tipping in one country may be viewed as bribery in another. Thus the poll results must be understood quite specifically as measuring public perception rather than being an objective measure of corruption.

Statistics like this are necessarily imprecise; statistics from different years are not necessarily comparable.” – Wikipedia Corruption Perception Index.

I found the news that Jimmy Wales of Wikipedia has decided not to censor the Chinese version of Wikipedia to be of great interest (Read This). Not because of the politics of access to “free” information and government censorship, but because he said “NO” and held true to his convictions.

All to often in today’s world we compromise. It might be for money, it might be to avoid problems, but we agree to something we know is not correct, or is not our first choice.

The ability to say “no” and to maintain your vision of your company, your ideals or goals is in my opinion admirable. I am saddened when I see decisions made, and principles “reorganized” in order to make an extra dollar or avoid a conflict.

How often do you draw the line at work and refuse to compromise your hopes, goals, values, ethics and morals?